How a specialization in sports physical therapy helped Teresa Schuemann take her career and patient care to the Next Level.
Teresa Schuemann, DPT, SCS, ATC, CSCS, is a Sports Physical Therapist and the Director of Residencies at Evidence in Motion (EIM). After she graduated with a physical therapy and certified athletic training degree, she jumped into acute care working as a physical therapy generalist at a hospital in St. Louis. At the time, she was uncertain about what area she wanted to specialize in so she paid attention to what she really loved to do in order to discover her passion. “I was always coming back to sport,” she says.
This led Schuemann to complete a residency program, which provided the experience, education, and mentorship that provided what she needed to work successfully as a Sports Physical Therapist. Schuemann takes her extensive experience into her work as an instructor at EIM. What can you expect from these courses? “When you come to a course with [EIM], we really want you to be able to go into your clinic on Monday morning and do the stuff that we practiced all weekend at the weekend intensive.”
“We format our courses so you have some pre-course work that provides the knowledge base and the start of clinical application and then on the weekend intensive we’re not going to be talking a whole lot, we’re going to be doing a whole lot. We do a lot of lab-based type things. You may watch the instructor give an example of what we’re talking about. Then you practice on each other.”
How does Schuemann sum up her role as a Sports Physical Therapist? “When you’re really involved in athletics at any level—middle school, high school, professional athletes—that participation in sports becomes a part of you. So when you have an injury, it can be pretty devastating and overall, the lesson is to understand that—and then to be very optimistic about ‘what is our plan to get you back?’” she says.
If you’re a physical therapist who is interested in taking your career to the Next Level, you don’t want to miss this interview with Schuemann. Watch the full interview here.
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